Sept-Nov prayer letter
Truly God is good….Psalm 73:1
Thank you all for your faithful prayers and support. Our letter is overdue. But the last three months have not been typical for us. We have seen God’s goodness in new and tangible ways for which we are grateful.
Hualapai Baptist Church continues to be a source of blessing. After spending months raising the funds for our needed transportation for our furlough, the congregation surprised us with a generous love offering for pastor appreciation. We used the money to purchase a tow dolly for hauling our car behind the motor home just in time to leave for two months on the road.
We pulled out September 24 and had our first service with one of the missionary families Hualapai Baptist supports ministering among the Navajo in NM. From the first service to the last we saw the Lord provide and protect us. Our furlough was necessary to report to several of our supporting church some of which we have not been back to see in over 20 years. Along the way, we experienced some instances in which the Lord overwhelmed us with His care. Early on, while driving from New Mexico to Iowa, two of the dual tires blew out. We have AAA, but the tow truck could not come out until the next morning and would only be capable of hauling the motor home. The owner of the RV park we had reservations for that night brought our dolly to his property and cancelled our reservation without charging us a fee. We stayed with the motor home that night along the highway until AAA could arrive. Then we followed them in our car to the tire shop the park owner had recommended. We learned that both the park owner and the tire shop owner where believers – only God! The service they provided met every need we had. Over the course of the trip we ended up replacing 8 tires! But in every circumstance God was watching over us and keep us from harm!
Some of our supporters had new pastors since our last visit. It was a blessing to get to meet these men and introduce ourselves and the ministry of the Independent Baptist Indian Mission to them and their congregations. We also had the privilege to present Native American Indian missions to a few new churches along the way. Our schedule took us through New Mexico, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, back through Indiana, and home through Texas. If we missed you, please accept our sincere apologies. We hope to report to our western churches over the course of the next year. If you would like us to schedule a particular time or event with your church, please reach out to us and let us know.
A few of the personal highlights from the trip were being awed by the amazing fall colors of New England, eating our first whole lobster in Maine, singing hymns around the gravesite of Fanny Crosby, visiting with numerous family and friends, experiencing the Ark Encounter, and participating on an alumni advisory panel at Pensacola Christian College. Thank you to everyone who welcomed us and made us feel so at home!
For God’s Glory,
The Steve De Ford family